Death to the Phablet! Samsung Has a Folding Phone-to-Tablet Prototype

Samsung's Galaxy Round dulled our expectations for the promise of flexible displays. It was basically a Galaxy Note 3 with a curve that rendered text unreadable, according to those who got to play with it. But don't write off Samsung's flexi-phones yet -- a pair of new prototypes sound like truly next-generation devices.

Revealed to investors behind closed doors at the company's second Analyst Day earlier this week, the company revealed hopes to have a flexible phone on the market by 2015 or 2016. And Jae Lee, a Daiwa Securities analyst, got to have a look at two prototypes shaping the flexi-phones' design.

"The first one they showed us was the size of an S3 smartphone which can be folded in half from top to bottom. So like a compact powder used by women," said Lee. And the second?

"There was also one in the size of a lengthy wallet which can be unfolded on both sides into the size of a tablet computer."

While the first device sounds like an interesting take on the flip-phones of old, it's the second wallet-like one that's really caught my interest. A device with the functionality of a smartphone, that could fit into your pocket, and fold out to offer the full-screen joys of a tablet? Now that's a disruptive piece of tech. While I've still a soft spot for the 7-inch tablet size, anything that brings about the death of the terms phablet and (heaven help us) fonblet gets two thumbs up from me.[Phone Arena via TechRadar]

To get creative guides, app tips and the full lowdown on Samsung’s S4, Note 8.0 and Note 3, check out Samsung’s Your Mobile Life.